Promises across death
by RoseScor90
Summary: Written for the random prompts challenge by Corinne Marie! Features Draco and Lily Evans! Read to know how! Not cross gen!


**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters…**

Written for the random prompt challenge by Corinne Marie.

Draco Malfoy was confused. Strike that.

_Okay. __Draco Malfoy was confused. __Done. _

Ugh! That dumb intelligence of mine!

_Hey! You're insulting me! I'm going away!_

Not going to make much of a difference!

_What did you say?_

Uh oh! Sorry guys, gotta go convince that damn sensitive acumen of mine.

_I heard that!_

So, till I return, keep watching Draco. He's in a lot of doubt now. And some one's going to clear them all!

Some one who you won't even think of in a life time.

Some one the wizarding world celebrates as the most loving person.

Some one who was Harry James Potter's mother.

Some one who was Lily Evans Potter.

So, see ya!(Rides out in search of her brain on a hippogriff with Gryffindor's sword in hand)

_Does every one have the same problem as me? Definitely not. I must be such a unique creature that Merlin must have decided to present me with the queerest of his collection of dilemmas!_

If you think these were the thoughts of the Minister of Magic or, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, you'd be dead wrong.

These were, in fact, the exact notions of a twenty three year old Malfoy, who had, being the first in his line to ever to do so, gone and fallen in love.

This, to most people, would seem a very happy disposition to find one self in.

Not this one though, for, as he repeatedly told himself, he was a Malfoy!

And Malfoys never fell in love. Even if the woman in debate was the most beautiful girl in the world. And one who understood him and liked him no less for it.

Even if she was the only person he could see himself with.

No way! Draco Malfoy will never fall in love and that was that!

Why else do you think he'd be lying on the four poster in his room, trying to picture her face in the ceiling?

Getting fed up; he jumped out of bed and went in search of the one artifact that had been left at their Manor after the raid.

The Mirror of Erised wasn't left there by choice. The Aurors were unable to move it even an inch during the raid. It seemed certain spells of Dumbledore had survived even after his time.

Dejected, they had left it there after ensuring that it wasn't any thing illegal.

Draco now stood before it, the thing that had shown him for the first time, what had lain in his heart for much longer before that.

This time when her image circled his waist, though, he didn't flinch.

Slowly, the image of Astoria Greengrass disappeared and a new image began to form.

"Who…who are you?" he asked, knowing the image couldn't reply.

"Lily"

"You can speak!"

"Yes, if I want to badly enough"

"Lil…you have Potter's….you're his mum, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am"

"Why did you appear? I was quite satisfied with the previous one"

"I know that" she said as she chuckled.

"You're making fun of me, aren't you?"

"I guess you inevitably pick some things up when you stay for too long with the Marauders" she smiled reminiscently.

"Hmph! You made a mistake, you know?"

"Mistake?"

"Yeah! I've heard about your story. Oh, yes, I have! You hated Mr Potter for so long! You shouldn't have given in!"

"Mr Potter! James would kill you for that! And why shouldn't I have? It was the right thing to do"

"Give in?"

"Accept"

"Those are two different things"

"Yes. And it matters how you look at it"

"Smart talk"

"It's the truth, Draco. You must make the right decision now, or you'll live to regret it later. I know some one who did. He's a close relation of yours too. May be its in the blood?"

"Who?"

"Sirius Black? He was in love with Mary McDonald in our Hogwarts days. He never told her. Said he was too young for commitment and that he never wanted to fall in love"

Draco blanched, those were the exact reasons he had been telling him self.

"He regretted it his entire life. Hope you won't make the same mistake"

"Why can't I wait for a bit more?"

"Love isn't some thing you can postpone for later, Draco"

"I just…need time. It's too soon. The war was just a few years ago. I need to recover, to forget"

"Scars from wars never heal. You'd be waiting for some thing that will never happen. And girls like Astoria come by once in a life time"

"But…"

"Draco, eventually you will come to understand that love heals everything, and love is all there is. But, it might be too late then"

"I'm not that weak!"

"It's not about being weak, Draco. And if so, have you ever tried forgetting her?"

He hung his head, remembering his futile attempts.

"You have, and did they work?"

"No, they didn't"

Lily smiled at Draco, he still appeared to be confused.

"What is your problem, really, Draco? No, not all those petty reasons you told me. The real reason"

"I can't help thinking I'm in way over my head. What if she decides that she didn't like me any more?"

"Suddenly?"

"Yeah! What am I to do then? I am not ready to depend on any one! What if she goes away? What if she is afraid of what I did…the part I played in the war? Dumbledore…"

"Dumbledore, would never want you to give up on love, Draco. If you really want to give the old man solace, all you have to do is love every one around you. You'll see that not many would be able to hate you then"

"What do you want me to do?"

"It's up to you to choose what you do, Draco. I can only give you the beacon. I can't apparate you to the destination"

"Why did you come to help me? Why not…some one else?"

Though he knew he was dreaming, for a moment, Draco felt as if some one was patting his head.

"Snow" was what she said before she began to retreat back into the mirror.

"What?"

"Narcissa"

Now her image had all but faded, and he only caught a glimpse of her auburn hair before it completely vanished.

He stood up, now intent on knowing what she had meant.

He found his mother in the garden, watching the stream pass by.

"Mother" his greeting turned formal and his speed slackened. How did he ask this without offending her?

"Good evening, Draco. Come have a seat. This is my most favorite place in the entirety of this estate. It used to be the place where…but that's all in the past now. Some you reminisce, some you forget. Was there some thing you wanted?"

"Yes, Mother. I wanted to know some thing about…"

"About?"

"Did you know Lily Evans?"

"Lily Evans? Why the sudden question?" but her eyes had a twinkle that he was alien to.

"I was standing before the mirror of erised and…she appeared"

"Were you in some kind of danger?"

"No!"

"A dilemma, perhaps?"

"N…Yes, but what does that have to do with my question?"

"Several things, Draco. Yes, I did know Lily Evans. During our first few years at Hogwarts, we were quite close. And then, there was the war, and we had to choose paths" Narcissa's eyes were now wide in wonder and shining with unshed tears.

"And?"

"We parted. As did she and Severus. She was always too brave to give in to the darkness"

"What is the point of all this Mother?"

"When we last met, that was the winter before she died, incidentally. It was snowing heavily that day but, I went out to meet her. She had wanted to meet me one last time before she went into hiding. I knew very well all the time she was in hiding, Draco. I kept my promise, to my only friend. I never betrayed her where abouts" her voice was rich with the pride of one who has done the right thing.

"We vowed in the presence of the snow…"

"Snow?"

"Yes, Draco. You may not realize this, not many do. We just take snow for granted. It has magical properties equivalent to that of a phoenix"

"Oh!"

"We vowed to protect each other's family and help them in their decisions. I hope you now understand why…"

"You declared Potter to be dead? Yeah, I do"

"And she kept her promise. That day at the graveyard during the Triwizard tournament, when Harry escaped, all the other Death Eaters there were attacked. Lucius and Pettigrew, though, weren't. I had no illusion that it was luck. And now, even after her death" her voice cracked a bit here, and she swallowed before continuing, "She has kept her promise. This is why there never would be a witch like Lily Evans, Draco. Dumbledore was good, but, she was noble. She had the biggest heart of them all. A heart that cared for a werewolf and even a traitor"

He now felt bad, he had been extremely rude, to a woman who had intended nothing but the best for him.

"What did she tell you, by the way?"

Draco now saw what Lily had meant. Now that he took time to think back, Astoria was curiously similar to Lily. And she had wanted him to grab on to her.

"To follow my heart"

"Her favorite words!" Narcissa laughed and went back to staring at the stream.

Draco stood up, debating the best way to apologize to Astoria for his rudeness and abruptness.

After all, you don't find true love that easily!

A/n: Hope you liked it!

R&R!


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